All of the Gear We Used to Hike the Lowest to Highest Route!

The Lowest to Highest Route (L2H) was one heck of a trip! We got to experience Death Valley’s backcountry, view the Owens Valley from high in the Inyo Mountains, and venture into mountaineering with a [failed] attempt to summit Mt. Whitney in December when it was covered in snow. With a few exceptions (noted below), we were very happy with the gear we brought along for our late-November into early-December L2H adventure. Here’s everything:

Complete Gear List:

Backpacks: Zpacks Arc Air 50L DCF Backpack with 2 Belt Pouches (discontinued, but the 50L Arc Haul is still available and similar.)

Tent: Zpacks Duplex Tent

Sleeping Bags: Zpacks Classic Sleeping Bag (900 down / 10F / size Slim-Medium for Tim / Slim-Short for Renee)

Shoes: 

(NOTE: These are not insulated for winter, and we had extremely cold feet in the snow. They probably would have been OK if paired with better gators [see below], but even so, insulated shoes/boots would have been nice for the Whitney portion of this trip.)

Snow Equipment: 

*Carried only on the Mt. Whitney portion of the trip.

Sleeping Pads: Nemo Switchback (Closed-Cell Foam / Short)

Hiking Poles: Black Diamond Distance Z Trekking Poles – Pair

Water:

  • Water Filter: Sawyer Squeeze x2. (On this trip we lost the O-Ring from one of our Sawyer Squeezes. This is a common issue with Sawyers, and we regretted not sticking to our Platypus QuickDraw filters.)
  • Water Bottles: Smartwater or Lifewtr bottles (Three 1-Liter & One 0.7-Liter)
  • Water Bag: CNOC 2-liter collapsable bag for extra capacity.
  • Water Jugs: We also used four disposable 1-gallon jugs of water that we cached along the route.

Kitchen:

Food Storage: 

  •  Ursack Major Bear-Resistant Bag x2 (Because we did this trip after November 1, there were no food storage container regulations in place. We still used our Ursacks because they’re so simple.)

Electronics: 

Renee’s Clothing:

Tim’s Clothing:

Toiletries:

Restroom:

  • Poop Shovel: The Deuce #2
  • Hand Sanitizer
  • Wag Bags (carried for the Mt. Whitney portion of this trip per regulations)

First Aid Kit (small amounts of necessary items)

Miscellaneous:

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